Significant Funding for FailSafe ERA is Included in Draft Senate Spending Bills
Virginia Senators secured funding for the organization, which provides reentry services to people affected by incarceration, in draft spending bills. Congress still needs to approve the bills.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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FailSafe ERA, the local nonprofit that provides reentry support services to Fredericksburg-area families and individuals impacted by incarceration, could get a big budget boost thanks to $460,000 in Congressionally directed spending secured by Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.
The funding is included in draft appropriations bills for fiscal year 2025 that are making their way through the Senate approval process. The final appropriations bills must still be passed by the full Senate and House of Representatives before the funding can be allocated.
If the bills are successful, the funding will allow FailSafe to “triple or quadruple” the number of individuals who can go through and graduate from the organization’s “Courage to Change” program, executive director Juanita Shanks told the Advance.
The five-week mentorship course is offered to those currently incarcerated as well as those who have recently been released. Participants work on setting goals, self-assessment, visualizing the future, challenges to success, and proven strategies to overcome those challenges.
Graduation from the course is the first step in FailSafe’s “Right Road” program, which aims to prevent recidivism. Shanks said that between 85 and 95 individuals graduate every five weeks, and if secured, the congressionally directed funding would allow her to train more mentors, including those who currently serving sentences in the jail.
FailSafe also works currently with about 40 clients who are integrating back into the community. Through a partnership with the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, the organization has a mental health practitioner on site to offer counseling and risk assessment, but additional funding could help by hiring case managers to provide individual support to more people.
The funding could help with substance abuse treatment for individuals who may not yet have health insurance and could secure more housing and financial assistance for those who are unhoused upon release from incarceration.
Shanks said that the funding would enable her to hire new staff members, such as a reentry director and a family reunification coordinator.
“This would be a huge deal for us,” Shanks said about the potential funding.
FailSafe requests some financial support from the five jurisdictions in Planning District 16 each fiscal year.
King George County funded the full request of $3,263 for fiscal year 2025, which began July 1, Shanks said.
FailSafe requested $7,781 from Fredericksburg City and received $5,000. The organization requested $8,283 from both Spotsylvania and Stafford counties and received $4,600 from Spotsylvania, but nothing from Stafford for the past two years.
“We are still hopeful in expecting our local regional jurisdictions to continue to support us,” Shanks said.
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